Spain’s (Secret) Hobbit-inspired Meals

Flashback to high school Spanish class…pictures of breakfast, lunch, and dinner foods are on the overhead projector (I’m feeling old now!) and we are playing Mata Moscas to see if our class can win a fiesta day (AKA a class where we pig out on chips) after we finish our next exam. I remember this unit very clearly (probably because it was about food!) We were taught that breakfast is called  el desayuno, lunch is el almuerzo and dinner is la cena. And that’s it. Needless to say, we totally won that fiesta day. How could we not when we had only 3 meals to remember?

Imagine my surprise (read: delight) when I arrived in Spain and found out that there are two secret meals that we never learned about, leading me to the conclusion…

…the Spanish eat like hobbits.

 

Here is a little cheat sheet to help you know what and when to eat. Note: These are from my experiences. I am sure that other parts of Spain have slightly different variations.

 

Breakfast (desayuno): This is the first meal of the day, eaten right after you wake up. Usually, something light is eaten like coffee or tea with cookies, a pastry or toast.

My pick: A café con leche and a croissant or palmera

Second Breakfast (almuerzo): Usually eaten between 10am-12pm.  From my experiences, sandwiches are the most popular. A lot of restaurants will have offers for half or full almuerzos for 3,5 and 5 euros respectively. These include a beer, soda, or coffee and a cheese, ham, tuna or tortilla sandwich.

My pick: Coca-cola with a tortilla sandwich

Lunch (la Comida): This is where you get your money’s worth! It’s usually eaten between 1-3pm Eating at a restaurant for la comida will give you a ton of food. I’m talking a 3 course meal plus a drink for anywhere between 6-18 euros!

My pick (menus change daily, but these are my favorite combinations): drink: Fanta Naranja 1st course: salad or gazpacho 2nd course: vegetable paella 3rd course: flan or coffee

Afternoon Tea (Merienda): Merienda is similar to breakfast. It is usually something light to tide you over until dinner. At restaurants you can often see them advertising the same offers for desayuno and merienda. Usually Merienda is eaten between 5-7pm.

My pick: Tomato toast with a café con leche

Dinner (la cena): La Cena can go on for 3 or more hours here! Usually it starts around 9pm and goes until 12am or later. This is the meal that probably most widely varies in all of Spain. My favorite dinner activity in Almeria was tapeando with my friends, where we would spend hours restaurant hopping. 

My pick: berenjenas con miel, pimientos de padron, and patatas bravas and vino…lot’s of vino.

So, the Spaniard’s don’t have quite as many meals as the hobbits. But, who knows? There might be a few other secret ones I haven’t discovered yet!

Want your very own hobbit clock?
Click here to get a personalized one!